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NIVERSITY BULLETIN 



NEW SERIES, VOL XVIII, NO. 43 



JULY, 1917 



SPECIAL BULLETIN 



ON 



WOMEN AND WAR 



Remarks at Graduation of Nurses from Training School. 
June 4, 191 7, by W. B. Hinsdale, Dean of 
Homoeopathic Medical School and Med- 
ical Director of Hospital 




Ann Arbor 
published by the university 

I917 



Mono^ 








D. of D. 
AUG 4 191? 






WOMEN AND WAR 



The present generation have httle but an historical 
knowledge of war and its attendant conditions. Of 
course, there are a number who recall the home and 
army experiences of the Civil War. Very many know 
from recollection and active participation in the Spanish 
War which was but a holiday frolic in comparison with 
what the country had previously experienced or what 
she shall experience. The Civil W^ar w^as at our very 
door and, relatively speaking, it was but an arm's length 
from home to battle line. To operate as a partner in a 
war in another hemisphere, with a broad and dangerous 
ocean haunted by invisible death-dealing leviathans inter- 
vening between lines of supply and lines of action, will 
be an unique experience for our thrifty people wdio, by 
virtue of their education and traditions have held them- 
selves forth as proprietors of a grand, sheltering national 
establishment devoted to the arts of peace and maintain- 
ed as a refuge for those who enjoy tranquility. 

It has been said if a good natured, kindly disposed 
and conciliatory man becomes thoroughly aroused that 
he is transformed into a most formidable pugnacious 
antagonist. He is the hardest person in the world to 
lick because, being slow to anger, he is slower still to 



special Bulletin 



"cool off." I recall the story of a devout quaker who 
endured from morning to night the insults of a rowdy. 
When at night the rowdy pulled his ear, the quaker laid 
oft" his coat and gave the insolent fellow a thorough 
trounsing. The quaker justified his actions by saying 
the voice of God was speaking through his muscles and 
the kingdom of heaven must thereby be glorified. For two 
years, "through the broad earth's aching breast," the 
shriek of shrapnel and the howl of the howitzers has 
been "trembling on from east to west.'' This turmoil 
the President of the United States recognizes as the 
voice of God calling for millions of men and billions of 
money. The quaker is taking off his coat. Uncle Sam's 
ear has been tweaked one time too many and in the name 
of Great Jehovah and the Congress of the United States 
he has taken down his fowling piece and is filling his 
powder horn. American boys will soon be marching on 
foreign soil but to the music, we shall know, that makes 
men free. As they go upon their doubly perilous journey 
at the call of duty, what may their sisters do? In times 
of great stress and when all interests are mutual and 
vital all men become as brothers and all women are their 
sisters. 

The women of the United States appreciate that they 
are as vitally interested in the public welfare as are the 
men. The men and women are joint owners of the 
country without partition or possible division of interest. 
Neither sex is master or servant. Neither is subordinate 



Women Olid War 



OP superior. There are not two social units, one male and 
the other female. All are. equally responsible for the 
country's character and for her behavior in the affairs of 
the world. 

Upon the women rests as much burden of the war as 
upon the men and they shrink not from their responsi- 
bility. The housewives, the homekeepers and all the 
others v/ho are accountable for the maintenance of any 
kind of an establishment or institution must remain at 
their posts or think twice before making a change. Per- 
sonal freedom will be restricted either by violation or by 
law, that others' wants may be satisfied and that the new 
order of things be brought to a victorious culmination. 

What is commonly called spare time should be oc- 
cupied in doing something to promote the war. All in- 
dustries that are contributors to the public needs whether 
home, school, shop, farm or factory must go on with un- 
usual regularity. Every wheel in the machinery of the 
community must be kept in motion. Any break will be a 
misfortune. Added burdens, if they do not impede per- 
sonal efficiency in ordinary avocations, can be assumed. 
Beside what women must do, there are as numerous 
things that they should do as there are that the men will 
do. There will, of course, be a great amount of energy 
wasted in the spasms of excitement. The best that can 
be said for unnecessary productions is that they stand for 
a worthy intention. Cowhide shoes that the government 
furnishes will be more useful in the field than embroider- 



special Bulletin 



ed slippers. A sheep's head canton flannel night cap will 
afford more comfort upon a cold night in camp than a 
silk lined "gentleman's friend." 

The first excitement will settle down and misdirected 
energy will be directed effectively. Earnestness will 
devote itself intelligently to doing the most necessary 
things. In every neighborhood, hundreds of nimble 
needles will be sewing and knitting gifts from thousands 
of flying fingers made for the comfort of far away 
soldiers. It is all right for middle aged women of seden- 
tary habit to knit socks and waistcoats, but the young, 
active, unattached women must do better than that. The 
most of them should be paid a reasonable price for their 
labors. They can not work for nothing because they, 
too, must subsist as well. According to their ability and 
experience they should be employed selectively. They 
can work in chemical laboratories, do lighter work in 
machine shops and factories. They can be timekeepers, 
paymasters, accountants, clerks, cooks, draughtsmen, 
waitresses, and operate vehicles that do not task their 
physical strength. They can do dairy work, sell tickets 
at depots, operate telegraph instruments, a field of un- 
numbered lines of service awaits them and they will be 
obliged if they do not do it freely, as the war goes on, to 
divert their attention from their selected channels to those 
imposed by necessity. They must cover the vacancies 
made by men so far as they can do. 

Under government dictatorship, people who can ai- 



Women and War 



ford to waste will be obliged to save ; those who can 
afford to loaf will be forced to work. What kind of 
goods a factory may turn out or what a farmer may pro- 
duce will not be left to individual discretion. The con- 
sumer may prefer white bread, but as a war measure his 
flour may be mixed with corn meal. Competition will be 
selective and commodities must be regulated, not to suit 
the caprice, fancy or taste of fashion but so that the 
armies may be most effectively munitioned and equipped. 
War is an exacting business. We will learn to think in 
terms of war and will virtually act as a part of an im- 
Uicnse militant machine. What emergency may neces- 
sitate can not be foretold, but it is certain the country is 
not going abroad upon a pleasant vacation trip. 

We must thoroughly understand that the control of 
resources and of goods does not spring from the neces- 
sities of our own people. It arises from the tremendous 
obligation we have assumed of carrying the burden of 
supply for practically all the allies whoever they may be 
and also of seeing that the same be delivered. The world's 
m.arket, for the present at least, like the consumer in any 
town, demands delivery at the door, or safe convoy of 
the same, and long credit. Not only that, the depleted 
ranks of the French army, it would appear, must be 
recruited noon American soil. Unless Providence soon 
shows his smiling face from behind the cloud, every 
man and every woman, as thousands are doing now, shall 
be accessory and agent to the fact of war. We are, as 



8 Special Bulletin 



yet, only in the first flush of the initial congestion, the 
full poison of the actual fever has not entered our veins. 
A vaccine for the fever of war does not seem at hand. 

The greatest burden will rest upon the productive 
resources of the soil. We will have to furnish the food 
for our own people wherever distributed and for a great 
part of the world, beside. No man can fight, any more 
than he can do anything else, upon an empty stomach. 
The sinews of war center in the abdomen. There must 
be an uninterrupted supply of wholesome provisions to 
furnish, at least, fifty million meals per day for men 
who, themselves, can do nothing towards producing their 
own supplies. Besides this, there must be the cotton, 
the wool, the flax, the leather and whatever else yields 
fabric for clothing produced in equally increased pro- 
portion. 

The necessary waste from war is enormous and when 
my estimate is corrected by fifty per cent, it will not be 
too great. A^olunteering and conscription is to be selec- 
tive. The burden imposed upon farm production can 
not be appreciated until the second year. Men who 
are disqualified for the battle field will qualify for the 
corn field. Farmers complain in normal times of the 
inability to secure labor. The one time hired man has 
passed into history. But the difficulty to secure service 
upon the farm does not lie entirely out of doors. The 
greater scarcity is in the house. When the number of 
farm hands is increased by state or government inter- 



Women and War 



fercnce as it will probably have to be, washtubs will be 
made larger and dish pans will be multiplied. Bigger 
pots and kettles will be boiling to the brim upon the cook- 
stoves. The overworked farmwife cannot serve them. 
There is as serious need of women on the farms as there 
is of men. 

All about the town we see young men drilling for the 
marine service, for land service, for ambulance service, 
for engineering service, and even for the air above and 
for the bottom of the sea. P'or myself, I would like to 
recruit a collegiate battalion of dairy maids to be dis- 
tributed among the wholesome farm homes of the coun- 
try. No one wishes to see the American girl between the 
plow handles or upon the hay stack like the peasant 
women of foreign countries. While I admit such situa- 
tions might be picturesque, it is quite unnecessary. 

Every old time school boy remembers the story of 
Molly Pitcher. At the battle of Monmouth, Molly, who 
was a kind of camp follower, was carrying drinking 
water for the fighting men. Her husband, Tom, was con- 
nected with a battery and ramming the cannon. Tom 
was killed instantly. Molly grabbed up the rammer and 
served the gun in his place. There may be a few women 
who will wish to be Molly Pitchers and get into notoriety 
by undertaking the extraordinary. Some may wish to 
imitate even the fanatical Maid of Orelans. A woman 
is womanly so long as she is inside the range of her 
physical capacity and undertakes what other women can 



lo special Bulletin 



do with propriety, beyond those hmits, she is, to say the 
least, pecuhar and probably out of place. 

T appreciate that what I have been saying does not 
apply to a group of trained women whose line of action, 
by virtue of their professional attainments, lies marked 
out clearly before them. While what I have said may 
apply to some who have been over-hearing, I have a 
special word for you. Any person included in the wide 
field of medicine, and you come within that category, 
must be prepared to meet whatever exigency may occur 
and to assume his part. Any physician who refuses to 
take charge of a case of diphtheria, smallpox or any 
other disease to which he is called, because of fear of 
exposing himself, is a coward and unworthy the calling 
he has espoused. In civil life, there are frequent and 
dangerous risks, but it is a part of the bvisiness to face 
them manfully. ^Medicine and surgery are not alto- 
gether paths of pleasantness and of personal security. 
Any trained nurse from individual reasons, unless of 
course there be some justifiable exceptions who recoils 
from the bedside of a sufferer is unworthy her certifi- 
cate. I would not be misunderstood. I have as strong 
condemnation for foolhardines as for cowardice. To 
face liability under due and wise precautions is to do 
one's duty. To take an unnecessary chance or to run an 
unwarranted risk is not to be and should not be expected. 
If you feel disposed to enter the nurses' wing of the 
arni}^, you will be acting under noble and most worthy 



Women and War ii 



impulses. If you get married, my advisory function im- 
mediately closes. If you remain in general or institution- 
al practice do not be opinionated but be ready to learn. 
Avail yourselves of every opportunity to improve per- 
sonally and in professional attainments. 

While nursing is classified among the charities, the 
one who follows it is deserving of her wages. Do not 
put pay before duty; however, pay for performing one's 
vocational duty is necessary. In a wide sense you should 
stand in society as an example of dignity and devotion. 
Become a necessary part of your community. Be in- 
fluential among good women and hold out a sustaining 
hand to the unfortunate. Join the Red Cross Society. 
Have yourselves counted among the necessities of the 
world. 

So soon as the ill and disabled troops begin to return 
for home treatment, all the hospitals will be needed and 
you will see something of the shadow if not of the sub- 
stance of the war. If you volunteer for military service 
deport yourselves the same as you have done ; ready for 
orders and exact in their execution. Be obedient to 
your superiors and considerate of your subordinates. 
Wherever you find duty calling do not forget that the 
institution that gave you your preliminary instruction 
stands ready to contribute, if possible, further assistance. 

Those w^ho are still in training must understand that 
their obligation is to finish their courses. When doctors 
and nurses are in so necessary demand as they are sure 



12 Special Bulletin 



to be, the government realizing the importance, requires 
that every student finish his course that he ma}^ even- 
tually be of the greatest possible worth to the country. 

Professional nursing may be said to have had its be- 
ginning in war. From tlie year 1853 to 1856 a war 
known in history as the Crimean War, was waged be- 
tween England, France and Turkey, principals upon the 
one side, and Russia upon the other. The suffering from 
hardship, cold and hunger, among the English troops in 
particular, was very considerable. Infectious diseases, 
especially cholera, wrought great havoc among the troops. 
The British war department sent out to the Crimea a 
band of nurses at the head of which was Aliss Florence 
Nightingale, a wealthy but very philanthropic young 
woman. She evinced great capacity for organization 
and, on account of her kindly nature, won the love of all 
who came imder her directing care. A testimonial of two 
or three hundred thousand dollars was subscribed for her 
by the grateful English public. This fund she devoted 
to the founding of a training school for nurses in Eon- 
don. It probably is not over-stating in her commenda- 
tion' that she popularized and professionalized nursing. 
Thus you see, war was, in a very true sense, the occasion 
of the founding of your profession. Should you, as a 
field in which to manifest your skill and express your 
devotion, offer yourselves for some military hospital, 
you would be in your original element, and would also 
imitate a character worth v of emulation. 



Women and War 



THE FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE PLEDGE 

I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the pres- 
■ence of this assembly, to pass my life in purity and to 
practice my profession faithfully. I will abstain from 
v.hatever is deliterious and mischievous, and will not 
take or knowingly administer any harmful drug. 

I will do all in my power to maintain and elevate the 
standard of my profession, will hold in confidence all 
personal matters committed to my keeping, and all 
family affairs coming to my knowledge in the practice of 
my calling. 

With loyalty will I endeavor to aid the physician in 
his work, and devote myself to the welfare of those 
•committed to my care. 



14 Special Bulletin 



NOTE 

Any part of any of the bulletins of this School that 
requires explanation should be made subject of written 
inquiry by interested persons. 

Correspondence with those who may wish to ask 
specific questions or who desire advice is encouraged. 

Students contemplating study in this School or prep- 
aration for such study, upon arriving in Ann Arbor, 
should report at the office of the Dean, in the Adminis- 
tration Building upon the hospital grounds, corner of 
North l^niversity and Washtenaw Avenue. The office 
will be open daily and a person competent to give infor- 
mation will be in attendance. 

Letters of inquiry should be addressed to W. B. Hins- 
dale, M.D., Dean, Ann Arbor, Michigan. 



021 140 082 1 



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Other Announcements of the several departments of instruc- 
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